Car-coupling



W. H. WARD.

GAB. COUPLING.

3 SheetsfSheet 1.

(No Model.)

Pafetedv Mar. 25, 1884.

OWY/ 4 ml 3.. Sheets-Sh'et 2.

,1L wij.. L@ m w 00. W 5 e ../f/ v s .m A E Q//iW (No Model.) 4,

, W. H. WARD. CAR COUPLING. Ia-295,697.

@QM/MAH, Y,

ww MJ V N l f /HM L a H n l W. l n In In. lm. z

(Nomaden i I ssheets-sheet s.

` W. H. WARD. Y

GAR 00UPLING.

` Patented Mar. 25, 1884.

'STATES WILLIAM H. VARD, OF MONONGAHELA.CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 295,697, dated March 25, 18841.

V Application lled February 14, 1883. Renewed October 3, 1883. (No model.)

To [LZZ whom it 71mg/ concern:

Beit known that LVVILLIAM HENRY WARD,

Monongahela City, in the county of Washing- -ton and `State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gar-Coupj hugs, of which the following is a speciiication.

V curves.

My invention relates to improvements in couplings for railway-cars, which areadapted to operate by hooking. one with the other, the hook ofleach coupling having its pivotal point in the shank and the hook rigidly formed at the point of the shank, as contradistinguished from a pivoted hook-nose coupling carried by a fixed draw-head. The specific matters of my improvement Will be hereinafter' fully described, preparatory to a designation of the devices and combinations of parts claimed as the invention. The hooks are of like construction, each pivoted by a double-joint coupling, so as to have both lateral and vertical movements when connected,:and thereby relieve the platform and the wheels of strain due to the unevenness of the'roadbed and curves of` the track, and lessen the wear of the rails and canwheel anges, and also lessening the retarding. force in moving over or around the Provision is made for locking the twin hooks to prevent accidental uncoupling by the movements of thecars. This improved coupling is adapted for use with passenger and freight cars, and. is constructedfor being coupled and uncoupled from either side of the car or from the top, and can be adjusted- `in position horizontally for coupling from It can be used with` either side of the car. the ordinary coupling link and pin., The provision for locking the couplings is o'f great importance for through trains on uneven grades. The coupling-hook is adj usted and maintained in position for coupling by an elevating-rod provided with a c0il-spring upon which the hook end rests, while a spring exerting a lateral force maintains the hook end in position to strike upon their curved ends and interlock as the cars come together.`

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a top view of a car-coupling constructed in accordance with my invention, the coupling-hooks being shown in coupled position Fig. 2, a vertical longitudi nal section; Fig. 8, a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a bottom view of the same; Fig. 5, a crosssection through the cushioned housing of the coupling; Fig. 6, a horizont-al section, showing the hooks coupled and locked Fig. 7, a

sideview of this self-coupler as applied to a freightcar; Fig. 7a, the slotted top plate, n2,- and Fig. 7", a sectional view of the same, showing the hooked operating-rods u sed'in freightcars. applied "to a non-cushioned draw-head; Fig. 9, a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 10 is a top view of the coupling-hook and its double-joint coupling. Fig. 11 is a perspective of the draw-head housing; Fig. 12, a similar view of the cushioned draw-head,' and Fig. 13 shows the joint-coupling for the joint-pins.

The hook A is` attached to the draw-head, housing, or other part by a double joint-that is to say, by a joint-coupling adapted to fit and form a horizontal butt-joint in the shank end of the hook and a vertical butt-joint in a fixed or cushioned part of the draw head, whereby the car can sway laterally at each end and rise and fall vertically at each end upon the couplingfjoints. rlhis double joint gives an easy accommodating action of the car upon its end sills andV coupling, so that the hooks, when coupled, have a sort of universal movementat their draw-head connection upon j oint-pins arranged at right angles to each other. The joint-pin c passes horizontally through knuckle-lugs a2 of the hook-shank, and through the front projecting' joint part, c', of thejoint-coupling B while the joint-pin b passes vertically through the rear joint part` b', of the joint-coupling B and connects it with the cushioned or iiXed part of the draw-head. These joint-pins are pieces of rod-iron cut the required length, and secured by what is known as a cross-cotter-pin fastening.7 The hook ends are rounded, so that in striking upon each other as the cars come together they turn outward upon their vertical pin-j oints b until their hooks c pass each other and come automatically together `by inward movements intached to some iixed part of the draw-head Fig. 8 shows my improved couplingas 1 IOO housing and pressing against a projection,

a3, on the side of each hook. The hooks are adjusted andmaintained in horizontal relation with each other for coupling by an elevating-rod, e, attached toacrank, f, arranged in suitable bearings below the joint-coupling,

. B,k said rod extending upward ina curved form,

and passing through an eye, c', in the under side of the hook. A spring, e2, coiled upon this rod bears against the eye e and sustains the hook in an accommodating position. The hook is raised or lowered upon the spring by turning the crank f, so as to push the rod e up or to draw it down. The elevating-rod is operated by a crank-handle, f', extending at each side of the car within reach of the train-man, and i's provided with a ratchet, f2, for a pawl, f3, so that when the hook is adjusted horizontally the `crank f is held by the ratchet and pawl, and the spring ezsupports the .hook ac- A commodatingly at its eye-connection. The provision of a crank and pawl for the holding device for the hook-elevating rod at each side of the car gives the advantage of setting the hook of each car up or down from either side in making up the train, so. that the hook of each car will be in horizontal line for` coupling.

The shank of the coupling hook is wide enough to extend sidewise beyond the hook parte proper to form a wide throat in the hookneck, and a projection, c', Fig. l0, extends from the shank part into the throat-space, but not closing it, so as to stand within line of the coupling-hook when the hooks are coupled. The hook-heads are formed with interior recesses, c, which open at their curved ends, 'so as to receive the projections c when coupling, and they are also formed with pin-holes c2, into which pins c can be inserted across the inner sides of the said projections c', as in Fig. 6, so as fto lock the hooks together, it being practically impossible to separate them so long as the locking-pins remain -in position. This locking provision for the hooks is independent of the uncoupling devices and gives absolute coupling security for through trains. The projection c of one hook iits into the slotted head of the other hook, and thereby serves to prevent vertical movements of the hook-heads upon each other. The recesses c* of 'the hookheads and the 'pin-l1oleslc2'adapt 'the coupling for use `-with the ordinary link., the pins for locking the hooks serving in such change 'to couple with the link, so that cars tted with the ordinary link-and-pin couplings can be used with cars provided with these twin couplin'g's. The locking-pinsmay pass through holes in the projections c', as shown in Fig. 8. For passenger-cars, the hooks are uncoupled from 'the platform by, levers having rod or chain connection g, in the usual manner, so as to pull the hooks apart, as shown in Fig. l. For freight-cars,th`e hooks are uncoupled from the top or from the ground by means Vwhich will now be described. A rod, h, bent to form a crank, fi, at each end, is secured to the under side of the draw-head housing or to some Xed part, with the cranks at each side of the car. A chain, j, connects one of these cranks t with the hook, so that by turning the crank t2 upward the hook will be pulled outward in position for coupling, and this may be effected by turning the crank z' or i2 at either side of the car from the ground; For holding the hooks in coupling positions, the rod h is provided with a ratchet, lc, near each crank, and a pawl, Z, Fig. 3, serves to hold the cranks when turned, to keep the hooks open. These pawls and those, f3, for holding the crank f of the hook-elevating rodl e are pivoted so as to drop down when released from the ratchets,/ and thereby allow the train-man on one side of the train to release the pawls which ma-y be' engaged on the other side, and to engage said pawls with the ratchets as he may desire from .either side of the train, to leave the hook in.

coupling or uncoupling position, as may be necessary in making up the train -or for sliding out one or more cars from the train. The hooks are thus held by the ratchets k and pawls Z in position for coupling against the force of the springs d d, which holds the ratchets in gear bythe chains j j, which pull upon the'cranks, and as the hooks come together they open, thus releasing their pull upon the cranks i and necessarily releasing the pull upon the ratchet lCO late n2 serving the same ur ose as the.

ratchet and pawl 7a and l, and holds the rod up andthe hook in uncoupling position, soY that the engineer can back and leave the uncoupled car on the siding. In making up the train the uncoupling rod on, is released by turning up the crank i2, so as to elevate the rod m sufcient to release its catch n and allow said rod to fall back, as shown in Figs. 7 and 7), to its resting-place in the slot, and its catch n to pass down through the slot fn, as in Fig. 7, and thus the hook A will be pressed by its side spring,d, into position for coupling. A similar rod, m', is connected with one of the cranks f of the crank-rodf, for raising and lowering the coupling-hook A from the top of the car, and for holding the hook in coupling position by the catch n. For this purpose the top plate, n2, has two separate slots, n, as shown in Fig. 7, in which both the rods are IIO IZO

Aor with a non-cushioned draw-head. Vhen the former is used, the draw-head C forms a sort of boxhousing for the cushioned 1pulland-push device, which consists of two cupcastings, p, secured together by square plates formed with the cups, between and within which a coil-spring.` q, is placed. These cupcastings are secured together upon the spring, and are fitted between offsets q2 within lthe cast-iron housing C, which is iirmly bolted by a top flange, G', to the longitudinal or other timbers of the car. The top iiange, C, has boss projections i', through which the securingbolts pass, andthese projections are let into the timbers for giving greater resistance to the pulling and pushing force. i y

The vertical butt-joint is formed in a headcasting, s, having horizontally projecting ends s' at topy and bottom, preferably rounded and grooved, through which the verticaljointpin b passes, as shown in Fig. 2. This j oint head casting s has a flat back, which tits upon the outer face of the front cup-plate,p, within Ithe open front of the box-housing C, so that the pushing force of the coupling is exerted upon the front cup-plate, and is resisted by the spring q, which is supported by the rear cup-plate, which in turn is supported against the interior housing offsets or abutments q2.

The vertical j oint-h cad casting s is supported in front of the front cup-plate by two yokes, t t, formed ofwrought-iron rods bent cold over a former and threaded at their ends, as shown A.walls of the housing, 5o

in Fig. 12. These yoke-rods t fit within the grooves of the head-casting above and below the jointleoupling B, and pass through holes in the back at the corners of said head-casting and through corresponding holes in the cupplates p, and are secured by nuts u, whereby the vertical joint-head and' the cup-plates are united together and form a "pull-and-push coupling for the coupling-hook, in which the pulling force is exerted upon the rear cupplate, andlis resisted by thespring, which is supported by the front cup-plate, which in turn is supported against the interior housing offset or abutments q2. The securing-nuts for the pulling-yokes are locked by the inner unscrewed when the united cup-plates are set within the housing, as shown in Fig. 1.

The double butt-joint coupling B for the coupling-hook may be connected tol a fixed joint-head casting, D, or to a draw-head of any suitable construction, as shown in Fig. 8.

Each housing has one or more side lugs,iE,

` which are intended for continuous coupling rod connections.

. It will be understood that when the` coupling is applied to passenger-cars the cranked rod h and its connection with the hookare not used, but the hook is operated by the rod-con nection g in the usual manner, and that when the coupling is used for freight-cars the connection gis not used.

so that they cannot be,

3. The combination of a suitable couplingi hook draw-head with a coupling-hook pivoted thereto by joint-pins arranged at right angles to each other, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

4. A twin-hook coupling having the shank of each hook part pivoted to the draw-head by a horizontal butt-joint pin, a, and a vertical butt-joint pin, Z2, in combination with a joint-coupling, B, connecting the'hook with the draw-head, substantialy as described, for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, in a ,twin coupling, of the hooks, with their pivot-pins a b, the jointcoupling B, and the separate j oint-head s, connecting said joint-coupling with the drawhead, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the hook A, of the joint-coupling B, the joint-head s, the butt joint pins a b, the yoke-rods't t, and the cushioned draw-head p, substantially as described, for the purpose specified'.

7 The combination, with the hook having its shank part A pivoted by a double iiexing IOO joint, substantiallyas described, of means, substantially such as described, whereby it is adjusted and sustained both in lateral and vertical positions for automatic coupling.

` 8. The combination, with the hook, pivoted substantially as described, of the cranked rod 7L z', the ratchets 7c, the pawls Z, and the chain j, connecting said hook and the crank fi of said rod, 'substantially as described, for the purpose specied.

9. The combination, with the hook, pivoted substantially as described, of the cranked rod f f', the ratchets f 2, and the pawlsfi, and the pivoted rod e, connecting the said cranked rod with the hook, and provided with the spring e2, for sustaining said hook upon the pivoted rod, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

10. The combination, with the couplinghook, pivoted substantially as described, of the cranked rods h i f f, theirlratchets and pawls, and means, substantially such as described, whereby said hook is connected with the cranked rod el and with the cranked rods ff, and sustained in horizontal position for coupling.

l1. The combination, with the couplinghook, pivoted substantially as described, of the cranked rods h i f f', their ratchets and pawls, the chain j, the pivoted rode, provided IIO.

with the hook-sustaining spring e2, and means, 1

substantially such as described, whereby the said cranked rods are connected for operating and adjusting` the coupling-hook from the top of the car. l

l2. The combination, in a ear-coupling, of the slotted plate n2, secured to the top of the ear, the rods m m, provided each with a catch, n, the cranked rods 7L z' f f. their ratchets and pawls, the chain j, the pivoted rod e, provided with the hook-sustaining spring @2, and a hook having its shank pivoted by a double joint, al1 constructed and arranged for coupling and for uncoupiing ears from the ground and from the top of the car, substantially as described, for the purpose specilied.

XV. NVARD.

Vitnesses W. L. S. WILSON, P. DEwEns. 

